However, Obama was awarded Maryland’s 10 electoral votes, racking up about 60 percent of the votes statewide Tuesday as midnight approached.

St. Mary’s voters went with Republican John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

This is the first year in generations that registered Republicans outnumbered Democrats among St. Mary’s voters, but the county has voted for the Republican candidate in each presidential election since 1980. This year Romney took 25,096 votes to 17,982 for the president in St. Mary’s.

In the race for the House of Representatives, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) got 22,761 votes in St. Mary’s (53 percent), while challenger Del. Tony O’Donnell (R-Calvert, St. Mary’s) received 19,300 votes (47 percent). In the 5th District, Hoyer declared victory and was outpacing O’Donnell with more than 68 percent of the vote as midnight approached.

St. Mary’s County voters rejected state questions to allow same-sex marriage (24,310 votes against to 18,863 votes for) and rejected in-state tuition at community colleges for some undocumented immigrants (22,482 votes against to 19,852 votes for). Local voters supported expanding gambling in Maryland, with 25,417 votes for and 18,384 votes against. The rest of the state was trending toward permitting the college tuition for those immigrants by 57.5 percent to 42.5 percent. Statewide Question 6 on same-sex marriage was at 51 percent for to 49 percent against Tuesday night, and Question 7 on expanded gambling was at 51 percent for to 49 percent against.